Seattle post cruise ideas

[Herfnerd]

Staying a couple of days, post cruise, next September (9th-11th) and trying to get a feel of what is doable without killing ourselves - I have a feeling that after our cruise, we might want to take things a bit slow

 

We disembark on a Saturday and checking into the Moore. Was thinking of spending the rest of the day downtown-ish - visiting all the touristy places like Pike Place Market, Space Needle, Chihuly's and the like. Will we be shorting ourselves with only a day downtown?

 

Have an entire day on Sunday and thinking of maybe doing a day tour to either Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens or Olympic NP or would be better off heading to Bainsbridge ISland or Snoqulamie Falls? We won't have a car, so will be relying on tour buses or public transit. Any other suggestions would be appreciated

 

We fly out Monday.....

[kctwinmommy]

We did 4 days pre-cruise this summer and we crammed in a lot. We did some of those things you mentioned, including Snoqualmie Falls. But we rented a car for that day to go there. I can't speak of any public transportation to get there. The other parks were just too far for us to go in one day since we didn't get the car until mid-morning.

 

You can read about what we did when we were there...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2381435

[Gardyloo]

If renting a car is out of the question (and with one your options would expand hugely) then I'd stay in town. Public transportation options are very poor for the places you listed, and, frankly, after a week visiting Alaska you might have seen enough mountains and water.

 

If the weather's decent (and that's usually a dry and warm part of the year) I'd definitely ride the state ferry to Bainbridge Island and walk around Winslow, visit some of the not-downtown areas in Seattle like the Ballard Locks, Museum of Flight, the nature trail around Union Bay on Lake Washington (you can also rent canoes from the U of W boat house or kayaks from several places if you want to paddle past the birds and beavers.)

 

Maybe take in a Mariners game if they're in town, or maybe the UW has a football game on Saturday - amazing atmosphere.

 

Bike riders? Take the water taxi to West Seattle, rent bikes on the dock and ride out to Alki Beach and back - amazing views. Stop at Marination Ma Kai on the water taxi dock (next to the bike rental) and have some kalbi sliders, spam musubi or loco moco, maybe washed down with a mai tai or three ;)

 

Or visit some of our lovely residential neighborhoods like Madison Park or around Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill. See the troll in Fremont and the houseboats on Lake Union (visit Gasworks Park while you're in the neighborhood.) On Sunday go to the terrific Ballard Farmers Market.

 

Google all these places for details.

 

All these things can be easily done using public transportation and/or Uber.

[Herfnerd]

Thanks for the suggestions and replies!

 

As for public transportation - that is for the downtown Seattle area. I would love pay my respects to Bruce and Brandon Lee, as well

 

But for visiting Olympic NP, Rainier or Mt St Helens, we would probably go on an organized tour/excursion that would take us out and about.......

[Gardyloo]

Thanks for the suggestions and replies!

 

As for public transportation - that is for the downtown Seattle area. I would love pay my respects to Bruce and Brandon Lee, as well

 

But for visiting Olympic NP, Rainier or Mt St Helens, we would probably go on an organized tour/excursion that would take us out and about.......

You don't have nearly enough time for Olympic NP - you need at least 3 days as the highlights are very spread out. There are day tours to Mt. Rainier, but I'm not aware of any to Mt. St. Helens; it's too far. In September Snoqualmie Falls are not very spectacular; not much water going over.

[Sequim88]

Even in Sept. expect huge crowds at Mt. Rainier as well as significant delays getting in to the park (unless bus tours have a special entrance ;) ). The wait outside the park just to get to the entrance can be an hour or more eating up valuable touring time.

 

There are other things to do that are available by public transit outside the downtown area that are worthwhile. if the weather is really nice a trip over the Ballard (Chittenden) locks can be well worth while and there are interesting places to stop and have lunch in the area. The locks are usually full of a variety of boats transiting to/from Puget Sound and Lake Union and there are some nice gardens there was well - plus the fish ladders that often have fish even if not at the time of a seasonal run.

 

Then an evening ferry ride to Bainbridge Is. for dinner can be very nice at sunset - especially if clear out. The Bremerton run is a little longer but if it is clear has a better view of Mt. Rainier in the distance.

[xlxo]

for visiting Olympic NP, Rainier or Mt St Helens, we would probably go on an organized tour/excursion that would take us out and about

I love my trips to St Helens over the years. However one time when I went on tour... I discovered it only went to the visitor center by Silver Lake. Johnston Ridge Observatory Point is much more rewarding... but it adds at least 2 hours (90 miles return) to the drive. Research if your St. Helens trip includes Johnston Ridge.

 

Google maps states it's 2.7 hours (156 miles) one way to Johnstone Ridge from Seattle.

Edited November 2, 2016 by xlxo

[kdooley]

On our last trip to Seattle, we took the Bremerton Ferry over and rented a car (they picked us up at the ferry) and drove around all day - Gig Harbor, Poulsbo.

 

Then we went for a tour of the Seahawks stadium followed by happy hour!

[Sequim88]

we took the Bremerton Ferry over and rented a car (they picked us up at the ferry) and drove around all day - Gig Harbor, Poulsbo.

 

Great option. For benefit of future searches on the topic (some people do search ;) ) if the weather is really clear then in that area, over on Hood Canal, Scenic Beach State Park can't be beat for views of the Olympic Mts. across the water. Post cruise it would definitely bring back memories of Inside Passage.